NYC smoke shop worker in stabs man to death in the Bronx

A man was fatally stabbed after a brawl with an employee outside a Bronx smoke shop Saturday, according to police sources.

The argument began around 12:30 pm at the Magic 7 Smoke Shop at 174 W. Fordham Rd., cops said.

A manager was carrying boxes outside when he bumped into another man, who apparently thought the contact was deliberate, sources told The Post.

The 58-year-old victim, who was walking with a cane, then took a swing at the store manager with his fist, sources said.

A second smoke shop employee came from behind the victim, put him in a chokehold and stabbed him in the neck, police sources said. The manager then struck the victim multiple times with his own cane.

The two workers then went back inside the shop to call 911.

The victim, who was not publicly identified, was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said. The dead man had a rap sheet that included more than 40 arrests, including for cases of assault and weapons possession, sources said.

Blood spatter was visible on the window of the Angel Nails Salon next door, and a pile of bloody paper towels were stacked beneath it. A stream off blood flowed down the sidewalk, right past the front door of the No. 8 Chinese restaurant.

The smoke shop manager and the employee who allegedly stabbed the victim were arrested in their store. Charges were pending, police said. A spokesman for the NYPD said he did not know if the victim was a customer.

Police sources told The Post that the stabbing did not seem to involve self-defense, as in the case of NYC bodega owner Jose Alba, who was apparently stabbed while fending off and fatally slashing a violent ex-con who attacked him on July 1.

Tylique Miles, 41, who hangs out in the neighborhood and occasionally sweeps up at the local shops, identified The Post the alleged stabber was an employee named Vernon.

Miles said he’s never seen violence like this in the neighborhood.

“It’s traumatizing,” he said. “We try to do everything we can to keep the area safe, but then something like this happens. We deal with a lot of addicts around here — Crystal meth, coke, everything.”

Radhames Rodriguez, president of the United Bodega Workers of America, arrived on the scene at 3 p.m. and said he’s worried about the amount of violence that continues to affect city convenience stores. 

“It’s very dangerous out here. We’re seeing a lot of confrontations,” he said. “We’re already dealing COVID and inflation. All together, these things build up and people get angry. Its very unpredictable.”

Additional reporting by Maddie Panzer and Joe Marino